To develop a comprehensive deer management program, the
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is undertaking
a progressive planning process that will ultimately involve
anyone and everyone who is interested in the state's deer
herd.

The process will invite interested parties – from hunter
groups to farm and ranch organizations to wildlife
biologists and game wardens – to identify issues and desires
relating to managing deer populations and setting deer
hunting regulations.

"Essentially, we will be asking everyone to identify the
issues, then a core group that represents all of the major
stakeholders will sit down together to try and
comprehensively address those issues," said Alan Peoples,
wildlife chief for the ODWC. "The result of the core group's
efforts will be what we hope to implement as our deer
management program, and it will cover all aspects of deer
hunting seasons, regulations and bag limits."

No specific management strategies will be considered,
however, until the Department has identified all
deer-related issues, concerns and opportunities, along with
ensuring that everyone is represented on the core committee
that will work to create the recommended deer management
plan. To ensure that the program is biologically sound, the
core group will contain a number of biologists and other
personnel from the Wildlife Department.

Peoples said to involve such a broad cross-section of
interested parties in the strategic planning process, a
series of "issue identification" meetings will be held
throughout the state. The first of these meetings, which was
primarily aimed at introducing natural resource and
agricultural groups and organizations to the process, was
held Feb. 23 at the State Insurance Commission in Oklahoma
City. More than 75 people attended the meeting, during which
participants identified at least 100 different
deer-management issues and voiced their support for this
type of strategic planning process.

The Wildlife Department has not yet set dates and locations
for the regional stakeholder issue meetings, but agency
officials anticipate holding meetings in late March near
Tulsa, McAlester, Oklahoma City, Lawton and Woodward. Anyone
interested in deer management will be encouraged to attend
the meetings, which will be announced as soon as times and
sites can be selected.

"At these meetings, people will get a chance to identify
issues that are important to them, plus they will be asked
to help identify persons willing to serve as representatives
on the core committee," explained Peoples. "From there, a
core committee of about 30 people will look to formulate a
plan that addresses the multitude of issues that have been
raised. Because everyone, or at least their issues, is
represented in the process, the end result will be something
that they should find acceptable, and something they can
support."

Deer hunting regulations and seasons have already been set
for this fall, so any potential changes recommended by the
core committee would not be implemented until the fall of
2001. Although the Wildlife Conservation Commission, the
governing board that sets policy for the Wildlife Department
and oversees hunting and fishing in Oklahoma, must
ultimately approve any changes, the Commission has expressed
support for involving stakeholders in the process of
formulating deer management recommendations.

In addition to publicizing upcoming meeting times and
locations through normal media outlets, the Wildlife
Department will posted the information on its web site,
which can be accessed at www.state.ok.us/~ODWC. For more
information about the planning process, contact the
Department's Wildlife Division at 405/521-2739.

At its regular March meeting, the Oklahoma Wildlife
Conservation Commission announced upcoming dates for public
stakeholder meetings regarding the Oklahoma Department of
Wildlife Conservation's statewide deer management plan.

The Department is holding the meetings to gather public
input to help develop a comprehensive statewide deer
management plan. As part of the development process, the
Department is working with sportsmen's groups, private
landowners and representatives from the insurance agency, as
well as from other stakeholders in Oklahoma's deer
resources. The object is to identify primary concerns from
stakeholders in different parts of the state to help
formulate progressive, proactive objectives and strategies.

The meetings are an important part of the planning process
which will ultimately involve anyone and everyone who is
interested in the state's deer herd, said Alan Peoples,
chief of the Department's Wildlife Division. The process
will invite interested parties - from hunter groups to farm
and ranch organizations to wildlife biologists and game
wardens - to identify issues and desires relating to
managing deer populations and setting deer hunting
regulations.

The meetings will not be a forum for debate, Peoples added,
but they will allow individuals to express their concerns
about the future of deer management in Oklahoma. Those who
address the panel will be limited to about three minutes, so
speakers should organize their thoughts beforehand.

"Essentially, we will be asking everyone to identify the
issues, and then a core group that represents all of the
major stakeholders will sit down together to try and
comprehensively address those issues," Peoples said. "The
result of the core group's efforts will be what we hope to
implement as our deer management program, and it will cover
all aspects of deer hunting seasons, regulations and bag
limits."

No specific management strategies will be considered,
however, until the Department has identified all
deer-related issues, concerns and opportunities. The process
will ensure that everyone is represented on the core
committee that will work to create the recommended deer
management plan. To ensure that the program is biologically
sound, the core group will contain biologists and other
personnel from the Wildlife Department.

"At these meetings, people will get a chance to identify
issues that are important to them, plus they will be asked
to help identify persons willing to serve as representatives
on the core committee," explained Peoples. "From there, a
core committee of about 30 people will look to formulate a
plan that addresses the multitude of issues that have been
raised. Because everyone, or at least their issues, is
represented in the process, the end result will be something
that they should find acceptable, and something they can
support."

Deer hunting regulations and seasons have already been set
for this fall, so any potential changes recommended by the
core committee would not be implemented until the fall of
2001. Although the Wildlife Conservation Commission, the
governing board that sets policy for the Wildlife Department
and oversees hunting and fishing in Oklahoma, must
ultimately approve any changes, the Commission has expressed
support for involving stakeholders in the process of
formulating deer management recommendations.

In addition to publicizing upcoming meeting times and
locations through normal media outlets, the Wildlife
Department has the information on its web site, which can be
accessed at www.state.ok.us/~odwc. For more information
about the planning process, contact the Department's
Wildlife Division at 405/521-2739.

After concluding a series of public stakeholder meetings,
the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is entering
the next phase in developing a new statewide deer management
plan.

Mandated last fall by the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation
Commission, the process began in February with a series of
public stakeholder meetings. The meetings, held in Oklahoma
City, Tulsa, Lawton, McAlester and Woodward, were designed
to elicit information from stakeholders with interests in
managing the state's deer herd. Parties represented included
private landowners, ranchers, farmers, sportsmans' groups
and the insurance industry, among others. The meetings
provided those individuals the opportunity to express
personal, corporate and regional concerns about the state's
deer resources, as well as concerns about the future
management of those resources.

"The meetings were very productive and enlightening," said
Alan Peoples, the Department's Chief of Wildlife. "We found
some common ground among the various groups, but we also
found that there are some significantly different concerns
from one region to another. For example, crop depredation is
a major concern in the southwest, while deer/vehicle
collisions are a big issue in the northwest."

Among the findings from the public meetings, Peoples added,
is that many motorists do not report deer collisions to
their insurance companies. Therefore, the incidence of
deer/vehicle accidents may be underestimated.

"These are all things we have to consider when we sit down
to hammer out a new management plan," Peoples said.

Equipped with such a diverse bank of public input, the
Department will next form a steering committee composed of
individuals representing the interests of the various
stakeholders. Once formed, the steering committee will meet
May 9-11 to draft a statewide deer management plan.

"It's taken us 30 years to get where we are, so it's going
to be quite an undertaking to formulate a brand new plan in
just three days," Peoples said. "However, we are confident
that the people who will be on the steering committee will
fully understand the importance of their mission, and we're
confident we'll develop a plan that will serve the best
interests of Oklahoma's citizens, as well as the best
interests of our state's deer resources."

In its regular June meeting, the Oklahoma Wildlife
Conservation Commission voted unanimously to encourage the
Deer Management Steering Committee Monday to continue
developing a comprehensive deer management plan for
Oklahoma.

Containing 32 key Oklahoma deer stakeholders, the 21st
Century Steering Committee submitted its five-step plan
outline to the Commission. The Steering Committee developed
the recommendations after a five-month process involving
statewide public meetings and an intensive, three-day
Steering Committee meeting. Major components of the plan
included:

1. Creating new deer management zones based on habitat types
and social considerations.

After thoroughly reviewing each item and discussing several
facets in depth, the Commission recognized the Committee for
its work and encouraged it to continue working toward final
recommendations. The Department has already finalized the
framework for the 2000 deer season, so a new plan, pending
approval by the Commission, wouldn't go into effect until
the 2001 season at the earliest.

Also at the June meeting, the Commission unanimously
approved a slate of officers. Elected were Harland
Stonecipher, chairman; Mark Patton, Vice-Chairman, and Ed
Abel, Secretary. The officers were recommended by a
nominating committee that included commissioners John
Groendyke, Jack Zink and Louis Stiles. The officers will
begin their terms on July 1.

In his monthly report, Director Greg Duffy briefed the
Commission on a slate of wildlife laws recently signed by
Gov. Frank Keating. None of the laws will dramatically
impact Department operations or the state's hunters and
anglers, Duffy said, but there were two items of significant
interest. One was House Bill 1927, which allows for the
hunting of feral hogs on public land and private land. It
allows for the Department to promulgate rules for hunting
feral hogs on public land, which the Department plans to do
over the next year.

The other was House Concurrent Resolution 1113. Sponsored by
Rep. Dale Smith (D.-St. Louis) and Sen. Frank Shurden (D.-Henryetta),
HCR-1113 will provide a forum to study additional funding
needs for the Department.

"Oklahoma's hunters and fishermen pay a lot for conservation
as it is, and license fee increases alone are not the answer
for the Department's funding needs," Duffy said. "The last
license fee increase that we had in 1994 was only supposed
to provide sufficient funding through 1997, and although
research shows that the overwhelming majority of Oklahoma
hunters and anglers would support another increase, we don't
consider that to be a long-term solution."

In other business, the Commission accepted a donation of two
mobile display units from Matt Chilcutt, president of
Chilcutt Direct Marketing. Valued at more than $20,000, the
mobile display units will be used to enhance the
Department's presence at various public venues around the
state. Chilcutt is the regional vice-president for Quail
Unlimited. He has been a strong supporter of the
Department's conservation efforts.

Gary Purdy, regional director for the National Wild Turkey
Federation, presented a plaque for Outstanding Hunting
Heritage to Duffy on behalf of the Department. Purdy also
presented a commemorative print to Assistant Director
Richard Hatcher for his leadership in securing continued
public hunting access to 725,000 acres of corporate
timberland in southeast Oklahoma.

In personnel related business, the Commission voted to amend
the Department's retirement plan, which included increasing
the death benefit to $5,000 for Department employees. The
previous benefit was $4,000. Other language changes were
incorporated as required by recent federal legislation.
Also, the Commission authorized a two-percent cost of living
increase for Department retirees.

The Commission will hold its next meeting July 10 at the
Department's headquarters in Oklahoma City. It will not hold
a regular meeting in August..

As Oklahoma's deer herd grows at an unprecedented pace, it
creates special challenges for the Oklahoma Department of
Wildlife Conservation.

While providing abundant hunting opportunities for
sportsmen, record numbers of deer also create conflicts for
many Oklahoma citizens. To address these issues, the
Department initiated a process several months ago to design
a new deer management plan for the 21st century.

Designed to involve all of the state's deer stakeholders,
the process began with a series of public meetings held
across the state in which the Department gathered input
regarding local and regional deer concerns.

Equipped with this information, the Department appointed a
steering committee composed of individuals representing
sportsmen's groups, landowners, agricultural interests,
insurance interests and other groups. After an intense,
three-day planning session, this committee drafted a
management plan to present to the Oklahoma Wildlife
Conservation Commission, the Department's governing body. To
ensure that the plan was biologically sound and reflected as
many viewpoints as possible, the Committee also contained
wildlife biologists, game wardens and other Department
personnel.

"When you consider that the white-tailed deer was nearly
extinct in Oklahoma at the beginning of the century, the
abundance of these animals today is one of the Department's
most phenomenal success stories," said Alan Peoples, the
Department's chief of wildlife. "However, there's no denying
the fact that the increasing presence of deer in some areas
has created some unique problems for many citizens. Our
challenge is to determine the future composition of the
state's deer herd, and to develop a comprehensive management
strategy to accomplish that goal. This committee has put a
great deal of time and effort into the initial part of that
process, and it will continue to work toward a plan that
will be most beneficial not only to the state's deer herd,
but also to the public."

The plan contained five major components, including:

1. Creating new deer management zones based on habitat types
and social considerations.

After a lengthy discussion, the Oklahoma Wildlife
Conservation Commission endorsed the Committee's progress at
its June 5 meeting in Oklahoma City and authorized it to
continue fine-tuning the plan's final recommendations. The
Committee will likely present its final recommendations to
the Commission at its regular September meeting in Oklahoma
City.

A group of 32 key natural resource opinion leaders met May
9-11 in Oklahoma City to provide recommendations on how to
better manage the state’s growing deer herd. The meeting was
another step in an ongoing process that the Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife Conservation is using to gain
consensus on deer herd management and hunting regulation
changes.

The committee represented every major group with an interest
in deer management – from landowners and agriculture
organizations like Farm Bureau, Farmer’s Union and Oklahoma
Cattleman’s Association, to media representatives, to hunter
organizations such as the Quality Deer Management
Association, to state wildlife professionals including
biologists and game wardens. Recommended changes will be
presented to the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission,
the Wildlife Department’s governing board, at an upcoming
Wildlife Commission meeting. Commissioners can implement
all, part, or none of the plan, but have expressed their
support for involving stakeholders in the process of
formulating deer management recommendations. Some
recommendations may require legislative action, and some of
the strategies will require additional Wildlife Department
funding.

Before arriving at specific management recommendations, the
committee adopted the following mission statement: Manage
Oklahoma’s deer herd for both quality and quantity to
provide a healthy deer herd, managed specifically by habitat
zones through education of both landowners and hunters.

In support of achieving this mission, the committee
recommended the following five steps be taken:

Step 1: Rezoning. The group recommended a subcommittee of
ODWC district law enforcement chiefs and regional wildlife
supervisors create new deer management zones based on
habitat types and social considerations.

Step 2: Maximize Doe Hunting Opportunity. Options to
consider to maximize doe harvest include increasing the
aggregate bag limit on does; allowing hunters to take two
does during the primitive firearms and modern gun seasons;
improving the Sportsmen Against Hunger program; establishing
a January doe-only archery season; establishing three-day
doe-only management gun hunts.

Step 3: Reduce Buck Aggregate Limit from Three To Two. While
the committee believes there is a problem with the
overharvest of young bucks, one that is especially acute in
northern-tier counties, the committee’s majority
recommendation was to implement this strategy to balance the
harvest and improve herd health.

Step 5: Increased Education and Communication. Strategies
under this step include distributing information through all
Wildlife Department channels such as the hunting
regulations, website, etc; implementing cooperative efforts
to disseminate information on deer management between the
Department and state agricultural publications; expanding
landowner technical assistance offered by the Department;
expanding Operation Game Thief; and creating a
jointly-supported deer management website.

One of the significant issues that was discussed but did not
make the committee’s final recommendations was increasing
the deer gun season to 16 days. Consensus sentiment among
committee members was that hunters first be provided the
maximum opportunity for doe harvest within the current
framework without increasing the number of days in the
current deer gun season.

For example, hunters in northwest Oklahoma will be able this
fall to harvest a doe any day during both the primitive
firearms and modern gun seasons, but those hunting in most
counties south of I-40 currently only will be allowed six
days of muzzleloader doe hunting and two days during the
modern firearms season. Furthermore, a 16-day season would
be counterproductive to shifting harvest pressure from bucks
to does, unless antlerless opportunities were increased
accordingly.

“Overall I think we were all a little surprised at how much
agreement there was among committee members on most of the
issues,” said Mike McCormick, executive editor of The
Shawnee News Star and chairman of the 21st Century Deer
Stakeholders Committee. “Obviously, a number of the
strategies for each of these five key steps will need to be
more thoroughly evaluated and given further consideration.
One of the committee’s first recommendations was that we
stay intact and stay active. We recognized that as the plan
is implemented, there will need to be some flexibility to
make adjustments as the plan’s accomplishments come to
light.”

McCormick said the group has set up several subcommittee’s
which will convene this summer to begin work on areas that
will help support the plan once it is implemented. He added
that most committee members hope to attend the Wildlife
Commission meeting when the recommendations will be
presented, which will happen later this summer.

The committee’s consensus recommendation was that plan
changes go into effect for the fall 2001 hunting seasons,
although the Commission may choose to implement portions of
the plan earlier.

“Two challenges kept resurfacing throughout our
deliberations,” said McCormick. “The Department lacks
adequate funding to implement all plan recommendations, and
we also recognize that there will be people who do not agree
with all aspects of the plan and want to challenge its
implementation.

“On those issues, the committee hopes to convince the
Legislature to make Wildlife Department funding a priority,
and we will strive to help overcome any roadblocks to the
successful conclusion of this process.”

Participative Management: Calling All
Stakeholders
Earlier this year, mounting pressure to control the state’s
deer herd, along with increased interest in not only longer
and more generous seasons but also in a healthier, better
balanced herd, led the Department to initiate a strategic
planning process for deer management.

The Department held a series of stakeholder meetings held in
Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton, McAlester and Woodward. The
meetings were designed to elicit information from people
interested in managing the state’s deer herd. Parties
represented included private landowners, ranchers, farmers,
sportsman’s groups and the insurance industry, among others.
The meetings provided those individuals the opportunity to
express personal, corporate and regional concerns about the
state’s deer resources, as well as concerns about the future
management of those resources.

“The meetings were very productive and enlightening,” said
Alan Peoples, chief of the Department’s Wildlife Division.
“Essentially, we asked everyone with an interest in deer
populations and deer hunting to identify the issues. We
found some common ground among the various groups, but we
also found that there are some significantly different
concerns from one region to another. For example, crop
depredation is a major concern in the southwest, while
deer/vehicle collisions are a big issue in the northwest.”

Equipped with such a diverse bank of public input, the
Department then formed a steering committee composed of
individuals representing the interests of the various
stakeholders and regions of the state. To ensure that the
program is biologically sound, the core group contained
biologists and other personnel from the Wildlife Department.

Although the committee has made a number of specific
recommendations, the group will continue to meet and address
future deer management issues. Additionally, some key
current recommendations must be finalized, work that will
happen in the coming months.